Thomas the Tank Engine "Down the Mine" (partially found pitch pilot version of British children's TV series episode; 1983)

Shot from the final episode that appears to have originated from the pilot.

Status: Partially Found

In 1979, Britt Allcroft acquired the rights to produce episodes based on The Railway Series for television. She spent over two years meeting animators and watching test reels deciding on what type of animation would be used for the series - classical, stop motion, clay, or CGI. After meeting David Mitton it was decided that live-action model animation would be used. After getting a commitment from ITV, a low budget, pre-production test pilot episode was produced to pitch the series to several networks on 3 April, 1983. David Mitton originally specified during early pre-production of the pilot that Thomas "is coupled to a number of carriages. Clarabel and Annie are two of them." This was revised to just Annie and Clarabel by the time of filming. The pilot was based on The Railway Series story "Down the Mine" and differed from the final aired version Britt Allcroft mortgaged her house to fund this episode's production and the pilot was filmed on C-stage at Clearwater's Battersea studio. The pilot was filmed without Clearwater's Periscope Lens System, and instead with a standard rostrum based 35mm Mitchel camera. After the series was funded, the periscope lens with the overhead gantry were commissioned. The pilot only took 3 weeks (15 business days) to film between March and April 1983 After the series was greenlit by ITV, the story was later refilmed as the twenty-fifth episode of the first series.

Nothing of this pilot version has surfaced except for a single shot in the final aired version which seems to be have been reused from the pilot. When Thomas passes Knapford station, his model appears to be much more simplistic than the one used in the series, the main differences being the paint on his front splasher appearing to be missing the red lining, his siderods seeming more toy-like in appearance and his face being different compared to the one used.

This is because the models of Thomas and Gordon were also different from that of the final series. The models used, including the wheels, were scratch-built by Martin Gill and were more simplistic in appearance. They were made of plastic and not brass, The models of Annie and Clarabel were based on kits from the Tenmillie, with little vac-formed faces. They were never tested before being filmed in front of the camera and proved to be unreliable. For example the pilot model's chassis performed so poorly that the models had to be pulled along with fishing wire. Another example is the models were equipped with a smoke generator based on a 12V car cigarette lighter, with conventional studio smoke-machine oil dripped on the hot element before each shot – but the heat proved to be sufficient to warp the ABS and Perspex of the engine bodies, so they could not be used for any length of time. A swift charging before a shot allowed a rather feeble smoke effect that sometimes emanated from gaps behind the eyes or at the side of the face-plug. The eye mechanisms were improved considerably for the actual series. During the pilot, they snagged repeatedly, smoke came out around them, and they were constantly being modified. Often, the eyes were set and locked in a particular direction. It was not unheard of for the static from the power coupling on the track to affect the servos and make the eyes suddenly veer wildly off.

A final example of its performance can be seen in the remaining footage of the pilot in the final cut, smoke comes out of Thomas' eye sockets. All of the models used later in the series would use the more dependable Märklin chassis. The pilot models also lacked a few features that were added later on to their final models, Thomas was missing his lamp and lamp irons, the splashers were missing their red lining, and the cab's side windows would be missing its yellow lining. Gordon's model did not have a lamp, lamp irons or a whistle. It is unknown if his tender had a few differences compared to its final model

Images of the pilot version of Gordon, by model maker Christopher Noulton, can be seen in an interview by Sodor Island Fansite. The pilot model of Gordon was apparently revamped after filming of the pilot the fate of the model after in unknown. According to Britt Alcrott the pilot was a showcase of how the story will be told because the rights were already bought.

The pilot was never publicly released, only appearing in test screenings. After the Down the Mine “pilot” was test screened in April 1983, it was later handed to Rick Siggelkow in the late 1980’s. He showed it to his wife and a preschool, with the results being positive, launching Shining Time Station, with Siggelkow being the show’s co-creator. is believed that Rick Siggelkow is no longer in possession of the pilot, as he says he turned in all his Thomas the Tank Engine and Shining Time Station master tapes to Mattel. This likely means that the Down the Mine “pilot” is with Mattel. No stills are known to exist. However, some recycled footage from the unaired pilot is also seen in the aired version of Down the Mine itself, resulting in Thomas' pilot model being briefly seen. The model's fates after the pilot are also unknown, a tweet by user Diesel10tv states David Payne the Gordon and Thomas model's were the same as the models used in the first series albeit heavily rebuild as well as the climax from the aired episode being the same as the pilot, however the post has been debunked as fake numerous times as the climax of the aired episode not being from the pilot for obvious reasons as well no evidence of David Payne stating the information, this leaves the fate of the Original Thomas and Gordon models from the pilot unknown.

Gallery

Footage of the pilot from the broadcast version of the episode.

SewerReviewer's video on the subject.

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See Also

Thomas & Friends

• Thomas & Friends "Jack Jumps In" (found Alec Baldwin narration of British children's TV series episode; 2002)
• Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels (lost original cut of direct-to-DVD film; existence unconfirmed; 2011)
• Thomas & Friends "Series 7" (partially found original music of American dub of British children's TV series; mid 2000s)
• Thomas & Friends "Series 12" (partially found Pierce Brosnan narrations of British children's animated series; 2008)

Thomas the Tank Engine

• Thomas the Tank Engine "Season 3" (found Michael Angelis narriation of British children's TV series episodes; 1991)
• Thomas the Tank Engine "Season 4" (found pre-recorded version of British children's TV series episodes; 1994)
• Thomas the Tank Engine "The Missing Coach" (partially found footage from unfinished episode of children's TV series; 1986)
• Thomas and the Magic Railroad (found deleted scenes of children's fantasy adventure film; 2000)
• Thomas the Tank Engine (lost pilot episode of unproduced 2D animated adaptation on "The Railway Series" books; 1976)

Other

• Thomas the Tank Engine (found original illustrated edition of book; 1946)
• Thomas and the U.K. Trip & Thomas Number 1 (found Japanese "Thomas the Tank Engine" crossover TV special and music video; 1993)
• Jack and the Sodor Construction Company (miscellaneous lost media of spinoff series; existence unconfirmed; 2002)
• The Three Railway Engines (found original edition of book; 1945)
• Barry the Rescue Engine (lost production material on cancelled "The Railway Series" book; 1980s)
• The Sad Story of Henry (lost live BBC broadcast adaptation of "The Railway Series" books; 1953)
• Thomas and the Magic Railroad (lost test footage of 3.5" character models for British children's TV series; 1995)

External Link

• A Thomas the Tank Engine FANDOM page on the pitch pilot.